The author is a Forbes contributor. The opinions expressed are those of the writer.

Loading ...

Loading ...

This story appears in the {{article.article.magazine.pretty_date}} issue of {{article.article.magazine.pubName}}. Subscribe

Imagine this: You are applying for a job at Y&R New York, a very well-known and respected advertising agency. You submit your resume and application online and wait for your shot with the company. But after several weeks, you still have not received a response.

Let's examine this story more closely. The second you submit your resume, you are simply another person interested in a job. With some companies receiving 800 resumes for a job ad and software that weeds out weak resumes based on keywords, your resume might never even be seen, let alone acknowledged. Knowing this, do you still feel confident that your resume is the ticket to your dream job?

The sad fact is that in this job market, no matter how impressive, a resume is no sure ticket to success. But for those who are willing to stand out, there is still a ton of opportunity. The first step to standing out and getting your dream job is to start thinking of your resume as one of many tools that you may use to get a job. Then, you must find a novel way to approach companies that you’d like to work for. This may seem like a difficult task, but here are a couple examples from which to draw inspiration.

In 2010, a man named Alec Brownstein landed a job at Y&R New York, the same company I asked you to imagine yourself applying to at the beginning of the article. Brownstein was able to land this job by showing a message to top creative directors when they Googled themselves. He created ads for five creative directors, received interviews with four of them, and spent a total of $6. Alec Brownstein didn’t even need a resume. Instead, he came up with a great way to market himself to the companies he wanted to work for.

The best part about Dubost's story is that he is still getting job offers from it now -- pretty impressive.

What do these two examples have in common? Both candidates leveraged the Internet creatively to get the attention of perspective employers. So if you're looking for a job -- at a startup, or at a big-name company, or somewhere in between -- here are a few tips to make your application stand out, using the stories above as inspiration:

Create an online resume or portfolio. We developed an open-source tool so that anyone can build a digital resume on their own domain. (It's free.)

Empower others to spread the message for you, as Alec and Phillippe did through social media and online ads.

Think outside the box to creatively get the attention of decision makers.

Alec and Phillippe's approaches worked because, in today’s busy world, people like to see results above all else. If you do something special, out of the box, or different, you’ll show the people thinking about hiring you that you are someone who gets results.